Study shows scope of US sex-abuse scandal

From CWNews.com:

Washington, Feb. 27 (CWNews.com) - Over 4,000 American Catholic priests have been charges with the sexual abuse of children in the past 50 years, according to a report to be released today by US bishops' conference.

At a Friday press conference in Washington, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops will formally release two studies on the sex-abuse scandal: a statistic analysis prepared by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and an analysis of those findings by the National Review Board commissioned by the US bishops.

(Although the contents of those studies were not scheduled for release until 11 on Friday morning, a diocesan newspaper broke the embargo, and secular press reports began circulating early Friday morning.)

The American bishops have already spent $572 million in legal damages and attorneys' fees to settle lawsuits brought by sex-abuse victims, the reports noted. That figure is artificially low, however, because it does not include some major settlement that occurred after the data were collected (such as the $85 million paid by the Boston archdiocese), and many lawsuits are still pending.

The report found that 80 percent of the abuse involved male victims. That percentage climbed steadily from the 1950s through the 1980s, while the number of incidents also increased. Sex-abuse charges were most commonly brought against priests ordained in the 1960s and 1970s, and among the priests ordained in 1970, one out of ten has been accused of molesting children.

The John Jay study showed that only 14 percent of the incidents of sexual abuse reported to bishops were brought to the attention of local law-enforcement authorities, and 95 percent of the perpetrators avoided criminal charges. Of those who did face charges, 64 percent were convicted.

In its analysis of the issue, the National Review Board noted that it could find no expressions of outrage in any of the correspondence between bishops and priests who had been accused of sexual abuse.

[CWN will provide fuller analysis of the reports as the information becomes available.]

We must pray even more for the conversion of those involved in the hideous crimes against God and His people, especially His little ones. We must offer our prayers, sacrifices, and daily mortifications to Him Who can right all wrongs. Especially during this time of Lenten preparation, let us resolve to ask our Lord to purify and cleanse His Church from those who are contaminating His Spotless Bride.